CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER 5 – TRANSCRIPT OF UNTRANSMITTED MATERIAL REFERRED TO IN OFCOM’S ADJUDICATION ON THE SERIES
Tuesday 16th January 2007 approx. 23:18:
Jo No?
Jade
Nothing.
Jo
Bad?
Jade
No, not really, but yeah, really. Yeah?
Danielle
What’s there to say?
Jo
You’re allowed to say.
Jade
[Inaudible] get in trouble.
Cleo
No, you can’t say anything. All I can tell you it was 24 hours later.
Big Brother
This is Big Brother. Could Danielle come to the diary room?
Jade
24 hours later?
Jo
Yeah, that you got told off. 2
Danielle
I can’t even remember saying anything.
Jade
I think I know. I don’t think it’s anything naughty like that. I think that… maybe Danielle used the ‘P’ word.
Jo
Oh, really?
Jade
Maybe.
Cleo
I don’t even know what ‘P’ word means. Don’t tell me, though.
Jo
Oh, you’re kidding. That’s bad.
Jade
No, I can imagine her saying that under her breath.
[DELETION OF DEFAMATORY REFERENCE TO A THIRD PARTY OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, FOR LEGAL REASONS]
Jo
Oh, that’s not good.
Jade
Maybe she didn’t. Maybe I’m just thinking it.
Jo
Oh, that’s naughty, naughty, naughty that is. 3
Danielle
Three bottles.
Jack
Tight bastards.
Jo
Three bottles of beer?
Danielle
Well, I’ll have a rosé. I’m not bothered.
Cleo
Do you know what, I’m fine not with any wine. I won’t sleep.
Jade
We’re only going to drink the whole bottle on our own.
Danielle
I’ll drink the rosé and give them half a bottle each.
Jade
There’s enough [inaudible], Cleo.
Danielle
Give them one and a half each and I’ll have a rosé, because I’m not bothered.
Cleo
I’m trying to work out what the ‘P’ word is.
Jade
Did you use the ‘P’ word? 4
Danielle
What’s the ‘P’ word?
Jack
It rhymes with ‘tacky’.
Jo
Keep it nice and discreet there Jack.
Danielle
I don’t know.
Jade
When the argument was going on, did you use the ‘P’ word that rhymes with ‘tacky’?
Danielle
No.
Jade
That’s what I thought. I thought, I can imagine her saying that under her breath or something.
Danielle
I don’t use them words.
Jo
Good.
Jade
That’s a good thing. I can’t imagine her going, ‘Oh, fuck off you…’
Tuesday 16th January 2007 approx. 23:40: 5
[Cross talk]
Cleo
Just my luck.
Jade
What happened?
Cleo
Got full again.
Jade
Yeah, but I wanted a drink and it just went –
Cleo
Oh, I miss my huge mouth the whole time. It’s so embarrassing in restaurants when you go like this and… That’s why I never drink red. It really shows. No. It’s not going for you.
Jo
There once was a house that was happy.
Jade
I’ve got a great one, but I’m not allowed to say it.
Danielle
Why? Why? I want to know.
Cleo
She can’t if she can’t say it.
[Cross talk]
Jo
There once was a house that was happy, ‘mi ni mi ni mi ni mi ni’ and then there entered… 6
Cleo
You’re all going to go to Big Brother prison.
Danielle
How do you know what –
Cleo
And you’re going to need me –
Jo
But it ends with a nappy. What’s wrong with you people?
Jack
But if you say, ‘Along came some people who were tacky’.
Jade
There once was a house that was happy, until…
Jack
They made it really tacky.
Jade
Until there entered a… Until there entered a…
Jo
Strappy… Strap-on.
Jack
Strap-on
Jade
No, no, no, there once was a house that was happy… 7
Jo
Until someone got yappy.
Jade
Yes. There once was a house that was happy, until someone got yappy.
Jack
She nearly killed everyone with a chicken.
Cleo
But everything ended up finger-lickin’.
Jo
Now you’ve got to do something that rhymes with a nappy.
Cleo
Oh, God, don’t give that to Danielle, for God’s sake.
Danielle
And it all ended up – Being crappy.
Cleo
Oh, dear me.
Jo
Right.
Danielle
That could have been rather disturbing, that.
Jo
That was a good one. 8
Wednesday 17th January 2007 approx. 00:13:
Jo
…claim to fame was your argument with her.
Jade
Yeah, with her.
Jo
Because of the argument they had. She said, ‘You know what, Jade, this is going to be your claim to fame’.
Jade
Because she’s a god.
Danielle
Is that what she said?
Jo
Yeah, she did.
Jade
‘This is going to be your claim to fame’.
Jo
‘This is going to be your claim to fame’.
Jade
[Inaudible] I don’t know her surname. Shilpa Pashwa fucking whoever you are, Shilpa Poppadom, I fucking… Oooh.
Jack
Stop it. 9
Jo
Calm down. It’s finished.
Jade
I am fuming and I know that it’s not going to lie, because I know, when I look at her tomorrow, I’m going to be feeling sick. I cannot stay… I cannot stay in this house and I will never walk –
Jo
There was a young girl from Bombay…
Jade
No, let’s not do that. I will not walk, because I’ve never let it get to me, but I tell you what, if I go, that will probably be the best thing for me – a bloody godsend – because I’ll end up smashing her head against… No, I won’t, because I’m not violent.
Jo
Jack’s like, ‘Yeah, uh-huh’.
Cleo
I think it will probably be better –
Jo
Drink another beer.
Cleo
To change the subject because I don’t want you to get into… I’m very passionate, and I think we all are. When you get that angry, you use –
Jo
No, I think that today’s argument was a nasty argument.
[Cross talk]
Jade
I’m common and I need… I need to go and get elocution lessons because I’m common? 10
How dare she turn her nose up at me? I’m not one of her pissing servants. She’s in a house with nine other people, which are normal people. Jermaine Jackson is a fucking legend – you don’t hear him talking down to people. You don’t hear him turning his nose up to people.
Jo
You don’t really get much bigger than Jackson.
Jade
No, you don’t. You don’t hear him say –
Jo
And he’s the quietest, nicest, most genuine person.
Cleo
Yeah, I love him.
Jo
Genuinely, a genuine person who’s lovely.
Cleo
He is genuine.
Jo
And I’ve got to be honest, I have witnessed things myself with sniggering and whispering and talking –
Jade
Jack did. Jack was in there the other day, in that kitchen, it was just him and Jermaine –
Jo
She done it about me with Dirk over the whisky.
Jade
Shilpa walked into the kitchen, looked at Jack, whispered to Jermaine and laughed. Jack said to me, ‘Oh, my God’. I was just this close to saying something to Shilpa. 11
Saturday 20th January 2007 approx. 19:47 – DIARY ROOM WITH JO O’MEARA:
Jo
I thought I was coming to collect some beers.
Big Brother
Hello, Jo.
Jo
Hello.
Big Brother
Jo, please could you switch off your microphone and take the battery out for Big Brother please? You should still know you’re being recorded.
Jo
Okay. Am I in trouble? There you go.
Big Brother
Thanks, Jo. Jo, Big Brother would like to make it clear that what we’re about to talk about is a matter that Big Brother has decided to raise with you. Just to be clear, this has not come from any of the other housemates. Do you understand?
Jo
Right. I think so.
Big Brother
To clarify, Big Brother has decided to raise this matter with you.
Jo
Okay. 12
Big Brother
Jo, it has only now come to Big Brother’s attention that you have made remarks that Big Brother considers to be racially offensive.
Jo
Oh, you’re kidding. Like what?
Big Brother
On Tuesday night, which was day 14 in the Big Brother house, you and other housemates were playing a game where you were making up limericks about Shilpa.
Jo
Yeah.
Big Brother
As part of this game, you used rhyming slang to replace what other housemates called ‘the “P” word’. The rhyming slangs you used were the words –
Jo
I never said the ‘P’ word.
Big Brother
The rhyming slang you used were the words ‘nappy’, ‘happy’ and ‘strappy’, amongst others.
Jo
That depends on how you take it. I’m not a racist person at all, ever, and I never, ever have been. I know that.
Big Brother
Jo, it’s clear to Big Brother that, in this conversation, this game, that these rhyming words were references to the racial insult ‘Paki’.
Jo
Right, okay. 13
Big Brother
Do you understand that this is considered racially offensive language?
Jo
Yes, I do. I didn’t… really didn’t mean it in that way, though.
Big Brother
Big Brother would like to give you some time to respond.
Jo
I don’t know how to respond to that, to be honest. I don’t consider myself to be racist at all, against anybody or any religion or… and, like, if Jermaine is praying or Shilpa’s praying, I always stay out of the room, I stay out of the way and I let them do what they do, and I ask questions about it and… and I want to know more about their religions and stuff. I don’t see that as a problem at all. I didn’t realise the seriousness of it and I apologise if I offended anybody, but I never, ever meant to.
Big Brother
Do you remember the incident?
Jo
Yeah, I do.
Big Brother
Can you take Big Brother through your version of the events?
Jo
Oh, God, I don’t know if I remember it to that extreme. It was just playing rhyming slangs and I was just… So you say whatever. You say lots of different stuff.
Big Brother
Do you remember any of the lines of the limerick?
Jo
Do you know what, I really don’t, because in here, we were talking earlier on about being 14 in the servants’ quarters, and that feels like about three or four months ago. So, no, I don’t, to be honest.
Big Brother
Do you remember who was involved in the game?
Jo
Me… the same people that always play the limerick game, so that would be me, Jade, Dan… maybe Cleo. She sometimes plays. And Jack.
Big Brother
In the limerick, do you remember what you intended the words ‘happy’, ‘strappy’ –
Jo
Well, no, because it could’ve… we could’ve said anything. It didn’t necessarily have to mean that. Do you know what, it didn’t even mean that. It’s just how you take it. You come out with all different stuff. We’ve come up with loads of rude things playing that game. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s intended to be racist.
Big Brother
Jo, during the game, Jack said that the word rhymed with ‘tacky’.
Jo
Well then, that’s Jack, isn’t it? That’s not me.
Big Brother
Do you understand how it might have been considered racist to be using a rhyming slang that rhymed with ‘Paki’?
Jo
Yeah, I can now, but do you know what, I didn’t really take much notice of it at the time. It’s just… you just play silly games in this house and do silly things when there’s nothing to do, so you just find ways of trying to entertain yourself. Today’s been another day which has been really tough for everyone because we’ve not had anything to do again. And it’s getting to that point now where everyone’s, like, ‘Ugh’. I never meant for it to be that way, and if it was that way, then I apologise. 15
Big Brother
Jo, just to be clear, do you understand that the word, and any inference using rhyming slang of that word, could consider… could be considered to be racially offensive?
Jo
Yes.
Big Brother
Jo, Big Brother will not tolerate any racist behaviour or anything that could be seen to be racist behaviour in the Big Brother house.
Jo
Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m not a… I’m not racist at all, though. That’s the thing. I’m really, really not. Really not. I’ve not seen eye-to-eye with Shilpa throughout this whole game, and I’m not going to start pretending that she’s my best friend but she’s a… I’ve got on a lot better with her today than I have throughout the whole show.
Big Brother
Why do you think that is?
Jo
I have got no idea. I really, really don’t know, but… I just think the group is slowly starting to get smaller now and you’ve got to start spending time with different people, because people are going. I think, is it six people, have left now. And I suppose, as the group gets smaller and the people you’re left with, you… you have to communicate more and talk more with, so I’ve been speaking a lot more today, and I’ve spoken a lot more to Jermaine today as well. We’ve been playing games. And I know that I’m not a racist person because my cousin is married to an Indian and half of the side of, like, that side of my family are all Indian. So I’m not a racist person at all. All my cou… I’d say, well… my cousin’s married to an Indian man and they’ve got four children and all their… his family interact with my family, so I’m surrounded by Indians a lot, because they’re part of my family, so I wouldn’t be racist. My cousins are Indian.
Big Brother
Jo, as a result of this incident, Big Brother has no option but to issue you with your first and only formal warning. 16
Jo
Okay.
Big Brother
Any further incidents could result in your immediate eviction.
Jo
Okay. So I’ve had a warning and that’s my last one.
Big Brother
Correct.
Jo
Okay.
Big Brother
Jo, Big Brother would ask that you exercise care in the future.
Jo
Yes, I will, and I’m very, very sorry.
Big Brother
Big Brother would also like to remind you that, as always, all diary room conversations between Big Brother and housemates are confidential.
Jo
Okay.
Big Brother
Do you understand?
Jo
Yes, I do. 17
Big Brother
Jo, Big Brother has arranged for you to have a short conversation, off camera –
Jo
Okay.
Big Brother
With Steven, the psychologist. A brief chat to talk through this matter in confidence, for your benefit.
Jo
Okay.
Big Brother
Big Brother will now hand over to Steven.
Jo
Okay.
Big Brother
There may be a short pause while we ensure that the diary room is not being recorded.
Jo
Thank you.
Big Brother
Thanks, Jo.
Jo
Thanks. 18
Saturday 20th January 2007 approx. 20:20 – DIARY ROOM WITH JACK TWEED:
Jack
Hello.
Big Brother
Hello, Jack.
Jack
Hello.
Big Brother
Jack, please could you switch off your microphone and take the battery out, please? You should know that you are still being recorded.
Jack
Done
Big Brother
Thanks. Jack, please listen carefully.
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Big Brother would like to, first of all, make very clear that what we are about to talk about is a matter that Big Brother has decided to raise with you.
Jack
All right.
Big Brother
Just to be clear, this has not come from any of the other housemates. Do you understand? 19
Jack
Yeah, I understand.
Big Brother
Jack, it has only now come to Big Brother’s attention that you have made remarks that Big Brother considers to be racially offensive.
Jack
Like what?
Big Brother
On Tuesday night, day 14 in the Big Brother house –
Jack
Yeah.
Big Brother
You and other housemates were playing a game where you were making up limericks about Shilpa.
Jack
Yeah.
Big Brother
You were using rhyming slang to replace what you called ‘the “P” word’.
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
You said the word rhymed with ‘tacky’.
Jack
Okay. 20
Big Brother
It is clear to Big Brother, Jack, that this was a reference to the racial insult ‘Paki’.
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Do you understand that this is considered racially offensive language?
Jack
Yeah, okay.
Big Brother
What do you have to say about this, Jack?
Jack
I was explaining the word that someone that was meant to have rhymed with the word. I wasn’t actually saying the word.
Big Brother
Do you mean you were trying to include the word in the limerick but were using another word to replace it?
Jack
I can’t really remember what exactly happened but I think… that someone said ‘I know a word that rhymes with that’ and then I clocked on to what it was and then explained what the word was, but didn’t actually say the word.
Big Brother
Do you remember why… how the word came up in the first place?
Jack
No, I can’t remember. 21
Big Brother
Do you remember playing the limerick game that night?
Jack
Sort of.
Big Brother
Do you remember who was playing it?
Jack
No. Me, Jade, Cleo, Jo and Danielle.
Big Brother
And where you were playing it?
Jack
In the lounge.
Big Brother
And do you remember the approximate time that you were playing it at?
Jack
No, I’m not sure.
Big Brother
Any idea?
Jack
No, I wouldn’t… No, sorry, I wouldn’t have a clue.
Big Brother
Was it afternoon, early evening, late evening? 22
Jack
Late evening, I’d say.
Big Brother
Jack, do you understand that the ‘P’ word – Paki –
Jack
Yeah.
Big Brother
Is considered to be racist?
Jack
Yeah, I fully understand.
Big Brother
And that simply by replacing the word with a word that rhymes with it doesn’t take away from the racial insult?
Jack
I wasn’t saying it to anyone. I was explaining what the word… what the word is. That’s why, in a conversation, you’re allowed to say, ‘The word “Paki” is a racist remark’. That’s why you’re allowed to say it. So I wasn’t saying, ‘That girl is a Paki’; I was saying ‘the word is that’.
Big Brother
You’ve suggested that the word ‘tacky’ could be included in a limerick. Correct?
Jack
Yeah, I think so, yeah.
Big Brother
So would it be fair to say that you were making light of the inclusion of the word ‘Paki’ in a limerick with the group. 23
Jack
I think so, yeah. I can’t really remember the whole conversation that we had.
Big Brother
Jack, was the limerick about Shilpa?
Jack
I think… I really can’t remember. I think so. I don’t know.
Big Brother
Jack, Big Brother is going to remind you of the limerick.
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Jo began: ‘There once was a house that was happy’. You then said: ‘Until…’ Jo said: ‘And then there entered…’ Cleo then interrupted and said, ‘You are all going to BB prison’. Jo said: ‘And then there entered a nappy’. You then said: ‘Or, if you say, “Or along came some people who was tacky”’.
Jack
Yeah. So that wasn’t referring to the word ‘Paki’. That was just people who was tacky.
Big Brother
Jack, in a previous conversation, you had substituted the word ‘tacky’ for the word ‘Paki’.
Jack
In that limerick just then, I wasn’t at all suggesting that the word was meant to be ‘Paki’. I was saying tacky, as in tacky people. I wasn’t – not at all.
Big Brother
Jack, do you understand that some people may consider what you said to be racially offensive? 24
Jack
Yeah, some people who got the wrong end of the stick, I would, yeah. Can I just ask: is this… What, is this out in the paper, because if it is, I’d rather just leave now.
Big Brother
Jack, Big Brother wants you to understand that this word could be considered to be racist. Do you understand that?
Jack
Yeah, I understand that.
Big Brother
And that Big Brother will not tolerate any racist behaviour or anything that could be seen to be racist behaviour in the Big Brother house?
Jack
Yeah.
Big Brother
Jack, as a result of this incident, Big Brother is now issuing you with your first and only formal warning about this.
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Any further incidents could result in your immediate eviction.
Jack
Okay. Could I just… Can you just please tell me if this is out in the paper or anything like that, if anything’s out there suggesting, because if it is, I’d rather just leave now.
Big Brother
Jack, just listen for a second. 25
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Big Brother would ask that you exercise some care in the future with your language.
Jack
Yeah.
Big Brother
And Big Brother would like to remind you that, as always, all diary room conversations between Big Brother and housemates are confidential.
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Do you understand?
Jack
Yeah. Thank you.
Big Brother
Jack, Big Brother has arranged for you to have a short conversation, off-camera, with Steven, the psychologist, to talk through this matter in confidence.
Jack
Right.
Big Brother
Big Brother will now hand over to Steven. There may be a short pause while we ensure that the diary room is not being recorded. 26
Jack
Okay.
Big Brother
Okay?
Jack
Okay. Thank you.